at me like a cannonball. more pressure because mitt romney put such a great performance that the bar is pretty high. >> i am sure that vice president biden got a phone call from the white house and said, we didn't go after governor romney as much and so you have got to turn up the heat. and breaking a record, new orleans saints quarterback drew brees passes a major milestone and enters the record books. monday, october 8th and "starting point" begins right now. good morning. welcome, everybody. happy columbus day. kind of feels like new year's day across the country. our starting point this morning is the bone-chilling temperatures. a cold snap is gripping roughly two-thirds of the country. dozens of cities saw record lows over the weekend. the midwest in an early deep freeze including in sioux city, iowa, where they're bottoming out at 15 degrees. alexandria steele is live in the

extreme weather center. good morning. >> good morning to you, soledad. it certainly is cold around the country. all right, yesterday alone, 170 record low high temperatures, meaning the afternoons were well below average. st. louis only 51, should have been 68. places that should have been in the 60s were well below average. so freeze threat today. you can see kind of how widespread it is from the upper midwest to texas through the mid-atlantic. places like ohio, running about a week and a half ahead of schedule with their first freeze. it's well below average and certainly a little bit earlier than normal. coldest thus far of the season, we saw it begin last week in the northern plains and upper midwest. now migrating into the south and east. today really kind of the coldest of the low and then temperatures will warm up. so there is certainly a relief in sight. looking at the next six to ten days forecast, look at this, how much of the country will be above average. other than really the northeast and northern new england, that will be just about average or

slightly below. temperatures certainly are on an upswing, no question about that. highs today in the 50s in the northeast, only in the low 60s here in the southeast. so well cooler than average. tomorrow, we warm up a little bit. again, we'll continue to warm up. thursday we're going to watch another clipper come through and cool things down again, soledad. kind of today is the lowest of the low and we begin to warm up around the country. >> that's good news, all right. thank you. john berman has a look at the rest of the stories making news today. good morning. >> happy columbus day. >> thank you. back at you. >> some serious news, the number of fungal meningitis case has jumped to at least 91 and health officials say the number could keep on growing. seven people have died. investigators in massachusetts are trying to find the precise source of the outbreak at a facility where potentially tainted steroid injections were made. >> the search for a missing colorado girl, they found a backpack and water bottle from jessica ridgeway about six miles

from her home. he was last seen friday morning walking to meet a group of friends on their way to school. >> a spacecraft called the dragon capsule is on it ways to the international space station but there's something different this time. >> three, two, one. and liftoff. >> liftoff, this is the first for nasa the rocket that blasted off the dragon capsule is commercially owned. nasa has contracted a dozen commercial flights to ferry cargo to the international space station. it was a historic night for the new orleans saints and quarterback drew brees, broke the record held by johnny unitas by throwing a touchdown pass in his 48th straight game. brees did it in the first quarter and went on to throw three more. the saints needed it, they won the for the first time this season 31-24 over the san diego chargers. only 29 days to go until election day and this morning we're getting a new snapshot of the race. it does look like mitt romney is

getting a bounce out of the debate. a gallup poll taken over seven days your bre break it down, in three days since the debate the race is tied at 47%. the three days prior to the debate, a five--point lead for president obama. that gone over the last three days. gallup asked who won the debate. last wednesday among debate watchers, 97% of republicans said mitt romney won, 70% of independents said mitt romney won, and 49% of democrats gave it to romney. meanwhile president obama's debate performance left a big opening for the folks at "saturday night live." >> number 20 -- >> excuse me, governor. mr. president? >> i'm sorry. yeah. yeah, what's up? >> mr. president. governor has just said that he killed osama bin laden. would you care to respond? >> um, no, you two go ahead. >> not bad.

big bird made a surprise appearance on weekend update, he took the high road when addressing romney's pledge to eliminate money for public television. mr. bird said he didn't want to ruffle any feathers. >> thank you very much. so as we inch toward election day, today could go down as a big moment in the campaign while president barack obama is in san francisco, he's attending three fund-raisers, his republican challenger mitt romney is getting ready to unveil his vision for foreign policy in a speech in lexington, virginia. here's a portion of his speech. it goes like this, they sent us excerpts earlier. general marshall once said he is going to say, the only way human beings can win a war is to prevent it. those words were true in his time and they still echo in ours. want to get to tara walsh, the senior communications adviser for the romney campaign. nice to see you. thanks for talking with us. >> hi, soledad. good morning. absolutely. >> so we know having read some of these excerpts that have been sent out by the campaign that

governor romney's going to focus on israel, he's going to focus on the palestinian territories and no big surprise, he's going to focus on iran. why don't you spell out for me exactly what governor romney's position is when it comes to iran? >> well, listen, governor romney is going to clearly spell out the choice that there is this election, particularly when it comes to foreign policy and all of the unrest that is happening in the middle east right now and how we have to address that and that is working with our allies, that is calling terrorism terrorism when we see it, that is acting boldly and strongly with leadership and that's what americans want to see and hear. i think we'll have an opportunity to see that in the speech. i don't want to give out the whole speech. i think that americans will have the opportunity to hear that and see that. but i think certainly we need a leader who is going to be strong, going to work with our allies who is going to ensure that we make sure peace is actually happening with clear direction and in the with confusion as we saw, for example, in libya.

>> so, you're right, we don't want to give away the whole speech and i'm certainly -- i couldn't deliver it as well as he probably could, but i want to read some of the excerpts that the campaign has given to us. let's put the one where he specifically is talking about iran, let's put that on the screen and i'll read it. he says this -- i will put the leaders of iran on notice that united states and our friends and allies will prevent them from acquiring nuclear weapons capability. i will not hesitate to impose new sanctions on iran. so you know, there are people who have said that position and the one spelled out even in more depth in the excerpts is exactly the same as president obama's position. isn't it? >> well, i think the difference is, again, to use the example of syria as the most recent example, we want a leader who is going to respond forcefully, be emphatic. we still -- it's three weeks and we just had fbi agents get on the ground there. i think the expectation is that

you come out and you call terrorism terrorism. you go after vigorously after those terrorists. there is a distink difference in leading from behind or being app genic or passive about a foreign policy and one who is strong. >> i'm talking about iran and -- be. >> forgive me for interrupting you. >> i hear you -- using an example of syria because again we want to give americans the opportunity to hear directly from governor romney when he gives a speech today. >> it looks like in the excerpts that have been sent -- >> a distinct difference overall. >> he covers libya and egypt and syria. >> yes. >> there's a range. let's talk about iran for a moment. when you actually analyze the candidate's positions if you look at governor romney's position on iran and that red line that as you remember benjamin netanyahu was drawing in his speech and president obama's position they're similar, aren't they identical, really? >> well, soledad, i'm not going to get into the back and forth

on foreign policy. i'm not a foreign policy expert. again, i think americans need to understand there is a clear and distinct choice between these candidates relative to their approaches to how we lead, how we have led, how this president has led, failed to lead it in a large degree. >> but their positions are similar -- i think their positions are similar, there's not a big difference between the two candidates. >> listen, soledad, i'm sure you can find similarities in a number of positions with leaders on a number of different issues. the point being is there is a clear and distinct difference relative to how we lead when we deal with terrorists and when we're dealing with helping with those who want to be free and clear across the middle east. there are those clear differences that have been spelled out that we do spell out and the approach that this governor takes and plans to take relative to cracking down on terrorists and enemies and those

who are out to harm us and out to harm our allies. >> let's take a look at the peace in the middle east and the -- obviously dispute between israel and the palestinian territory. here's what we know he is going to say in his speech this -- later today. he's going to say finally i will recommit america to the goal of the democratic prosperous palestinian state living side by side in peace and security with the jewish state of israel. and as you well know, this is very contra drik dicktry to what we know he was saying in the tape that was leaked, the 47% tape they were talking ate. let me play you a little bit of what he said about this issue, the peace between israel and the palestinians. listen. >> i'm torn by two perspectives in this regard. one is the one which i've had for some time which is that the palestinians have no interest whatsoever in establishing peace

and that the -- and that the -- the pathway to peace is, um, almost unthinkable to accomplish. >> play another chunk later on in that same speech the one that was recorded surreptitiously, let's play that. >> i look at the palestinians not wanting to see peace anyway for political purposes, committed to the destruction and elimination of israel and these thorny issues and i say there's just no way. you move things along the best way you can, hope for some degree of stability but recognize it's going to remain unsolved. >> okay. as you know and you just heard, that's completely contradictory to what i read you the first time around. i will recommit america to the goal of a democratic prosperous palestinian state living side by side in peace and security with the jewish state of israel. those are completely contradicto contradictory. which one is true? >> the fact is, the president who's failed in the nesh ways

process. he is the leader right now of this country and he has failed -- >> tara that was an excellent shift but answer for me about governor romney. we can talk about the president. >> that is my answer. >> no, that is my answer, soledad. >> the answer is that the president -- -- the answer about president obama? >> i think the governor has made his position clear relative to where we stand with israel. >> he hasn't is my point. >> decided to meet with entertainment folks and people like that, rather than benjamin netanyahu and i think that there -- again, there's a clear position here -- >> it's not. it's not. that's my point. my point, tara, hold on. just hold on. my point is, it's completely contradictory. my question is, which is it? >> in your viewpoint. >> okay. then tell me how it's not completely contradictory in your viewpoint, but don't talk about president obama at this moment, answer the question about governor romney.

>> we will stand side by side with -- we will stand side by side with israel and -- and -- and the governor has made that clear. i'm not going to get into a big foreign policy debate with you here. that's not -- that's not -- that's not my position. that's not my role. and that's -- you know, if you want to talk about that, i suggest you put on a couple of foreign affairs experts and let them go at it and pick this apart the way that you would like to have it picked apart. >> that's unfair. i'm just asking you about the message. that's unfair. i'm only asking you about a contradictory message. >> that's in your view. >> you couldn't explain it then. thank you for talking with us. >> not if i don't agree with the premise. >> or you could explain that even i would take. apparently we're not going to get to that either. thank you for talking to us this morning. still ahead this morning gx to be talking to obama supporter ohio congressman tim ryan, he will be our best this morning as well and we're going to be talking to former ambassador williamson to talk about the

very detailed foreign policy issues as well as tara was suggesting so we'll take her up on that suggestion. ahead on "starting point" his biggest challenge in years. hugo chavez wins re-election and could have a big impact on what happens here in the united states. a live report from caracas straight ahead. supposed to be one of the happiest days of your life. a wedding you're looking at. not a brawl after a hockey game. it is a wedding and turned tragic. we'll tell you what happened. this was caught on tape. we'll share the terrible ending. what do you have in business? >> i have gas prices going up in california. higher and higher. california setting new records this week,ing misery at the pump. what's behind the jump and what they're doing to try to stop it. you're watching "starting point." mike rowe here at a ford dealer with a little q&a for fiona. tell me fiona, who's having a big tire event? your ford dealer. who has 11 major brands to choose from?

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welcome back to "starting point." i'm christine romans. aaa says the national price for a gallon of regular unleaded is $3.82, california drivers paying an average $4.67 a gallon to ease the strain on drivers there, california governor jerry brown taking emergency measures calling for an increase in supply and early switch to a winter blend fuel. u.s. treasury markets are closed for the holiday but stock markets will be open and concerns about growth pushing u.s. stock futures down. the world bank lowered its outlook for growth in asia overnight. new report today from the house intelligence committee says chinese tell communications companies huawei and zte could

threaten national security in the u.s. because of their ties to the chinese government. the report says the companies have records of intellectual property violations and alleged ties to iran. it also says, quote, china has the means, opportunity and motive to use telecommunication companies for malicious purposes. they call it dangerous political distractions and they say its products are safe. hugo chavez overcomes the strongest challenge to his political future to win his third term as president of venezuela. analysts says the results show chavez is weaker politically in that country. paula newton has been following the vote for us in caracas. good morning. >> good morning, soledad. 10%, he won by 10%, wouldn't seem like any kind of a political victory for the pop position but it was significant in venezuela. when you consider he took every lever he had in the state and that was money and he threw it at this campaign, not in a traditional way we're seeing

with ads back home but more in the way of getting people refrigerators, cell phones, new homes, he did everything he could. as a result the economy here has perked up. they're going to have a financial hangover in the next while, even though they are a major oil producing nation. another thing to senior, soledad, we haven't talked about it too much because hugo chavez has been compromised by the election and the cancer he was ball bat theling he sets up with russia and china on the issue of syria. we have to look forward to what he has coming up, whether he will get more serious about trying to help to get some kind of peace solution in syria or if he will be far more provocative of that and it continue to arm syria, not just fuel, but perhaps even arms and other things. president barack obama's on the record saying he doesn't see anything that venezuela is doing as a threat to national interests. people like republican senator marco rubio beg to differ and say look out for chavez, now

that he's in power for another six years, no telling how embolden he will be by this. >> paula newton updating us on that election victory for hugo chavez, appreciate it. >> still ahead on "starting point" if you've had a pat-down at one major airport, chances are good -- actually very, very high that they got it wrong. that's our get real this morning. we'll explain. our "starting point" team is heading in to talk about that. michael, ryan and kelly is with us, "starting point" is back in just a moment. good morning, guys. ♪ i wish my patients could see what i see.

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welcome back to "starting point." a look at top stories this morning, two nobel prize in medicines were announced and

they go to two scientists sharing the prize, john gurdon and japan's shinya yamanaka won for stem cell research, discovered that mature specialized cells can be reprogrammed to become immature cells capable of developing into all other tissue cells. congratulations to them. the obama campaign is launching attack ad in virginia slamming mitt romney's foreign policy credentials ahead of romney's speech on foreign policy this morning. the obama camp claims romney's overseas trips have been reckless and amateurish. the bronx bombers bats woke up in the ninth. the yankees scored five runs in the final frame to beat the orioles. take a 1-0 lead in the division series. in the national league the cincinnati reds are one win away from playing the pennant. crushed the giants behind pitcher bronson arroyo. he gave up just a sill hit in seven innings. >> anything -- >> won the world series in 2004 and 2007 --

>> just has to work it in, no matter what. what about the red sox? >> won in 2004 and 2007. >> so long ago. >> i know. >> 2004. >> yeah. i think i had 16 children in between them. >> come on. >> his kids think they win every year. >> they don't know. i told them they won the world series again this year. >> our team michael is with us, editor and chief of global grind.com, easy for me to say, the political director for russell simmons, ryan lizza is back, washington correspondent for "the new yorker" and kellyann conway joins us. hope you had a great weekend. >> fabulous. >> our get real this morning does not surprise, reports of shocking security lapses at newark international airport. according to an internal transportation security administration document, newark's security screeners did standard pat-downs of passengers properly, roughly 16% of the time. in no cases, 0% of the time, did

they inform passengers properly of their right to opt out of a full body scan in favor of a pat-down. the screener evaluations were done by out-of-town employees from the tsa who come in and pretend to be regular travelers. i'm not surprised. >> i'm not surprised at all. i travel a lot and basically wear the same thing and every time i go through security there's something different, sometimes the belt is on, the belt is off, feeling in one place, feeling me another -- >> the visual on that is a little crazy. >> so maddening and i live in new jersey and fly out of laguardia or jfk because of that reason. >> that's one of the most annoying airports. >> so annoying and unnecessarily annoying and turns out it's unnecessarily annoying and not that safe and their food court is not that great either i should add. >> most importantly. >> but they're always -- they tend to be very rude and officious and felt like if that increased people's believe they

are more secure going through and not just being harassed, and this is, you know, public needs to have confidence in the government and certainly needs to have confidence in the faa and tsa and all these important acronyms that rule our lives and doesn't help. >> got 100% on good listening skills and performing their physical searches. >> this is what i love. 100% on removing prohibited items found during physical search. you found an item that was prohibited and removed it. hope you have 100%. >> 0% chance mentioning the pat-down rule. >> we have to take a break. still ahead mitt romney takes on president obama's foreign policy record today as he's enjoying a post-debate bounce in the polls. you heard from the romney campaign a few moments ago. up next obama supporter congressman tim ryan will join us. this wedding celebration that went horribly wrong. a fight in the lobby somewhere between 75 and 100 people in a brawl and end ended in tragedy. we'll explain what happened,

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welcome back, everybody. welcome. happy columbus day holiday. let's get to the news. john berman has that for us, top stories. >> no one says happy columbus day. >> i just started it, a new trend i'm beginning. >> merry columbus day. be culturally sensitive. >> 31 minutes after the hour. looking for answers nearly a month later, a house committee opens a hearing on wednesday into the deadly attack last month at the u.s. consulate in bengha benghazi. chris stevens was one of those killed. they want to know if the state department provided enough security and diplomats and personnel. a republican congressman who returned from libya said it is clear that requests for more security were denied. authorities in alabama investigating the shooting death on the campus of university of south alabama. police say an officer shot and

killed 18-year-old gilbert collar after the freshman showed up at the police station naked and acting erratically. according to the school the student repeatedly rushed and verbally challenged the officer. family, friends and colleagues in arizona saying good-bye to u.s. border patrol agent nicolas ivy at a service this morning. during chris station yesterday, loves one walked past his boots and hat. his casket draped with an american flag. they believe he was killed in the case of a friendly fire. a brawl turns deadly at a wedding. >> just decked the bride. >> you didn't hear that incorrectly. what you heard was someone say they just decked the bride. you never want to hear that at a wedding. a man died of a heart attack after this brawl between two wedding parties. philadelphia police say two men were cited for disorderly conduct and alcohol was a factor. a third man, the one police hit with a baton in this youtube video is reportedly still in jail. a different kind of rumble

in the nation's capital over the weekend. fox news host bill o'reilly and jon stewart head to head in a mock debate. >> biggest spending president by far in the history of the united states. in fact, president obama has spent more money than all of the other presidents combined if you take out world war ii. >> my friend bill o'reilly, is completely full of [ bleep ]. >> and the big loser in this debate may have been the viewer because so many people tried to watch it on-line and it crashed the live stream. it was very hard to get the thing going. soled soledad. >> thank you very much. president obama in full campaign mode this week starting with a speech on sunday op in a star studded rally in los angeles. there will be performances from stevie wonder, katy perry, a number of other a-listers. the president used the occasion to poke fun at his recent disjust tras debate -- disastrous debate performance. listen. >> these guys and everybody here, incredible professionals,

they're such great friends and they just perform flawlessly, night after night. i can't always say the same. >> meanwhile, the romney campaign is on the offense, taking friday's september jobs report which the white house touts as a triumph and turning that against the president. listen. >> this economy is not doing well and the fact that you have a white house celebrating an unemployment rate of 7.8% with 23 million americans out of work or unemployed or underemployed, tells you a lot about the failure of this administration's policies. >> this, of course, leading up to thursday's first and only vice presidential debate between joe biden and paul ryan. democratic congressman tim ryan joins us this morning from the crucial swing state of ohio where an appeals court decided on friday that early voting will be reinstated for the three days that lead up to election day. nice to see you. thank you for taking with us. >> good to be with you.

>> appreciate that. let's talk a gallup poll to start with. you can see in the time since the debate, it looks as if mitt romney has gained points. president obama has lost points. i think you guys have the wrong poll up there. i have september 30th to october 7th and then october 4th through 6th as you can see, early on, the president leading by five points, now neck and neck. and then if you take a look at what did a better job in last week's debate, that was a poll question, republicans say no surprise, 97% think it was mitt romney who did a better job. i'm wondering who the 2% of republicans who thought president obama -- that would be -- independents. 70%. throw that poll up again. i think that's a critical number. how worried are you about the 70% number and how is this going to translate into support? are you going to see a shift in this polling and this is big problem for president obama? >> i don't think so. that's a snapshot in time. in ohio especially which is a key state and the first poll i think you showed was a national

poll, it's the swing state polling on an individual state basis that's really going to matter. and here in ohio, obama has a great record. he slapped tariffs on chinese products coming over, that helped job creation in ohio, not to mention the auto industry rescue package and we've had thousands of jobs that have been created, in my congressional district, 4500 jobs at a general motors plant that makes the chevy cruz in lordstown and all of the spin offs. obama is going to be judged on his record here. 30 plus months of growth, job growth, we're no -- no one is celebrating this. no one think we're where we need to be but in ohio we're in a significantly better position than we were in 2008 and 2009. >> we don't have a good post-debate poll in ohio and you could look at the post-debate poll that we do have, as you point out is national, and say, well if that's happening across the country, it's not insane to think that could, obviously,

happen in ohio as well. here's the attorney general mike dewine, he was talking about how he thinks this is going to help the debate is really going to help governor romney in the state of ohio. let me play that for you. >> romney's going to carry ohio. it's going to be a very, very close race but this race fundamentally changed wednesday night in ohio at least. i think did it across the country. yesterday, we had 150,000 doors that were knocked on just in one day in ohio. we have great energy. the governor's going to win this state, it's going to be close, he's going to win. >> he said race changed on wednesday he's talking about the debate. yeah. i don't think so. i'm not feeling it on the ground. i've been here in ohio. i don't feel it. i think people definitely have an opinion about how the debate went, but at the end of the day it's going to matter about what policies. if mitt romney is going to privatize the medicare program and turn it into a voucher system, and the voucher only goes up two or 3% a year when everyone knows health care costs don't go up 2 or 3% a year, or

gut the medicare program, we were a he an older state, we have a lot of seniors that access the medicaid programs for nursing homes, people who have children with disabilities access the medicaid program in ohio, when they see the romney/ryan budget when it hits the ground, he's going to lose. he's just not going to be able to carry enough independent voters. as i said on top of the auto rescue, we have people that have actually felt the obama policies help them. right down the supply chain in the auto industry here, you can go to places like the logistics company, the trucking company, the seat manufacturer, all the way down the line have benefited and they know, i was out at the plant gate the other day, they know it was obama sticking his neck out in 2009 to make sure that gm didn't go bankrupt and the autos didn't go bankrupt. >> i will be curious -- >> romney was on the wrong side of that. >> curious to see how the polling does when there is a good -- right? we're too close to the debate, we didn't have the good post-debate polls in the state of ohio yet to really flush that

out. >> any swing state poll after the debate, except in colorado, which still shows obama with a four-point be edge there? >> in ohio we were in the field before the debate and i was in cincinnati recently, i think the key here is that the undecided vote is so female and women have told pollsters for decades and they mean it they look at the last events of the campaigns, the conventions and the debates, i think those are much more important to the undecided suburban swing women, they're inundated in ohio with the outside money and messages your clear shot without anybody else telling you how to think and what to know to see these two men and women before last wednesday, soledad, never really looked upon president obama as despondent or disinterested, maybe no joy on the job, heart not in it, and that was a real wake-up call for them. and i don't -- this wasn't just a gaffe. people make gaffes in these debates. we've talked about gaffes of the

past presidential debate. 90 minutes of nothing. >> 90 minutes worth. >> when "snl" is doing a parody of you it's never a good thing. >> the notion that obama doesn't want the job is a horrible notion. >> kind of said it. >> he has no joy on the job. >> this is a difficult job. the president has worked his darnedest to do his best the past four years. the idea that the president got in front of the television didn't look like he was presidential or another four years, this man has worked hard to get this country out of recession. >> i said it was despondent, altitude sickness or lack of preparation? women don't like to be insulted. >> we will see what women accept and reject when we see polls and we'll bring you back because i would love to walk through the polls. i think we will see some shift but i won't predict it yet until we see. watch complete coverage of thursday's vice presidential debate on cnn and cnn.com, it starts at 7:00 p.m. eastern time. got to take a break but still

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welcome back to "starting point." clint eastwood's address raised eyebrows because of this scene when he was talking to an empty chair. the empty chair represented president obama. this week's cover of "the new yorker" picks up on the performance against mitt romney. why don't you since you work for "the new yorker" ryan, put that cover up again. >> this is barry blitz, one

of -- i think one of the most -- a lot of people, one of my favorite cartoonists at the new yorker, famously in 2008 did a cover that was controversial of barack and michele obama in the oval office, remember this -- >> the terrorist misstep. happen to have a piece in that issue, overshaded doed the palestinian issue. but yeah, i think he captured what everyone's reaction to that debate was. >> not the 2% of republicans. >> the 70% of independents that thought romney won -- >> i love the jim lehrer detail on this. >> and your cantonist quoted as saying he never realized how difficult it would be to caricature furniture. he learned a new new lesson. >> interesting to see back to the poll numbers, we heard congressman ryan saying you get the -- no effect at all in that debate. i think -- >> we don't have the data yet. everyone is like -- >> waiting -- >> dying for the first poll.

>> here's the thing. >> you're a pollster. >> that's right. here's the thing too. the last two minutes of anything, everybody here has spoken, you speak for a living. when you're told you have a two-minute close, that's got to be perfect, though. it's got to be devoid of any hesitation, perfect. you have to look at the man in the mirror and practice it, content, plan b, so i feel even there, there was a certain lacking. >> i thought the close was a metaphor for the 90 minutes. just like -- nothing there. >> the debates are all about expectations and after a disastrous debate you go into the next debate and people think he can't even talk now. the expectation theme in the next -- >> none of it would have mattered as much had people not been gleefully and single minded calling the race over three weeks before the debate. >> i agree with that. >> i was on that band waggen. >> i've taken the wheels off your wag sthoon people declare the end and it all restarts. >> voters hate being told what to do and how to think. >> i agree with you.

>> voters ask themselves who can lead. >> i agree. >> the democrats, folks may look at this and say we have to go to work, 30 days to the election, we have to go to work. isn't going to be so easy. >> complacency was setting in. >> still ahead on "starting point" a former harvard professor who spent his life advising and inspiring entrepreneurs had a brush with death. he changed the life of one of his former students who has written a book about the famed professor. the author will join us live up next. nice to see you. "starting point" is back in a moment.

all right. check this out. fresh lava and ash spewing from a volcano in northeastern

indonesia. volatility has continued since yesterday's eruption. people who live within a mile and a half from the volcano have been warned to limit their time outside. good advice zblncht major drug bust for two coast guard cutters off the coast of florida. officers seized an estimated $38 million worth of cocaine and marijuana from suspected smugglers. in one case smugglers dumped 55 bails of marijuana overboard but officers fished all of it out of the water. critics didn't like it. everyone else seems to. the liam neeson sequel "taken 2" took the top spot in the box office with $50 million. hotel transylvania came in second. "pitch perfect" came in third. >> i want to see hotel tr transylvania. >> i see a movie a year. >> i'm being told it's about a

cappella singers. a new book out this week in the classic spirit of professor student mentor stories like "tuesdays with morrie" and the last lecture, his book is inspired by stevenson's heart attack scare in 2006. here's a little of what eric writes. at the moment that i learned howard had cheated death i made a subconscious decision to capture of the wisdom howard had been effortlessly dispensing and to share that wisdom with people who'd never have the chance to learn from him directly. the book is called "howard's gift." the author joins us this morning. who was howard -- who is, he's still alive, howard stevenson and what was his gift? >> sure. i've been blessed in my life, sole soledad, to have two mentors. howard is an iconic figure at harvard business school. he's taught for 40 years. taught tens of thousands of students. one of whom we're talking about quite a bit nowadays, mitt

romney. his gift is to help folks chart not just success, which is what you think about at a place like harvard business school but also satisfaction and fulfillment in their career and lives. >> you really don't think about harvard business school teaching as satisfaction and fulfillment. success and satisfaction you say in the book is not the same thing at all. >> sure. the premise of the book really is howard had seen over decades people immensely successful and yet were not satisfied. and when he died, he had unintended cardiac arrest. a type of heart attack that has less than 1% survival rate. i mean, he died. his heart was stopped for four minutes. a number of of ordinary people came together and did extraordinary things that saved his life. when i went and saw him as he recovered, obviously very emotional, he said he was totally satisfied with his life. he had sort of charted a way to achieve satisfaction not just success. >> the book is a series of essays combined with stories about sort of howard's strategies about how to not only be successful in your business

but sort of happy with where you are. there's one page where he's talking about a former student. he says it's cheating at solitaire. that's why that student who wanted to get ahead was struggling. >> explain what that is. >> i love that phrase. solitaire is a game obviously many of us played as children. when we don't have the cards to win we take them and cheat and there's no real consequence. at the end of the day you're cheating yourself. howard tells people they have the skills and abilities to achieve the goals they set for themselves. when an objective assessment would conclude they have not. the reality is when you do that as an adult you're setting yourself up to be disappointed in your careers. >> this book is full of a lot of rule. the rules apply in a down market. people say get a job. hold on to that job. think those rules still apply? >> i don't know if we'd call them rules. there's the untold story of the

great recession. that story is the election's obviously about the economy. the economy is obviously about jobs. there's been huge discourse at this able and others about the unemployed. but what we think is the silent victims of the great recession are those who do have jobs. and there's millions, perhaps tens of millions of people whose careers have been stunted, whose ambitions have been slowed, whose dreams have been unfulfilled because of stagnant economy. we think this book and howard's wisdom will help those people chart forward. >> i got to write an essay -- i know this much about business, but i did give -- >> the book's not a business book. which is why we asked you and others to be in it. >> it's a life book. >> a variety of everyday people as well. we think it hopefully will appeal to millions of people searching not only for success in these difficult times but also satisfaction. >> uncommon wisdom to inspire your life's work. thanks. still ahead on "starting

point," freezing temperatures blast part of the united states. literally it just turned fall. are warmer days ahead in our future or are we right into winter? plus, mitt romney talking tough on foreign policy. talking syria, libya, afghanistan, iran, of course. could his speech today add to the post-debate momentum for the romney campaign? we'll talk about that when we're back. stay with us.

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hunter's life is one of nearly a million changed by donations from people like you. send your love to the rescue. donate to shriners hospitals for children today. our starting point, arctic blast. freezing temperatures and snow stun parts of the u.s. this weekend. and fall's just started. is relief from the cold in sight? next january we'll be watching him leave the white house for the last time. >> mitt romney prepares to hammer president obama in a key foreign policy speech today as the running mates get ready for their showdown. >> we think he's probably going to come at me like a cannon ball. >> i am sure that vice president biden got a phone call from the white house and said, we didn't go after governor romney as much, and so you have got to turn up the heat.

and breaking a record. new orleans saints quarterback drew brees passes a major milestone and enters the recordbooks. it's monday, october 8th. "starting point" begins right "starting point" begins right now. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com good morning. welcome, everybody. happy columbus day or merry columbus day if you're ryan lizza. that's what he likes. michael skolnik is joining us today. editor in chief for thegrind.com. ryan lizza. merry columbus day. washington correspondent for the new yorker. and republican pollster kellyanne conway. john berman is sticking around as well. blue october. look at the map. early cold snap covering about two-thirds of the country many morning. overnight dozens of cities were seeing record lows. the whole weekend, actually. midwest is in early deep freeze. take a look at the temperatures

in sioux city, iowa, where it bottomed out at 15 degrees. alexandra steele is leave for us in the weather center. it was cold in new york. nothing like iowa. wow. >> absolutely. in nebraska it was 10. what we've got, we've been talking about it for a few days. blue northern. temperatures precipitously dropping. st. louis, 51. should be 68. dallas high of 53. should be 78. temperatures on the whole between 15 and 25 degrees where we should be. coldest air of the season in place. see all this blue delineating where we have a freeze threat, be it a watch, advisory or warning. ohio just for example running about a week and a half earlier than usual for a frost or first freeze. temperature outlook, soledad asks and this begs the question, are we going to warm up? we certainly are. this is the six to ten-day outlook coming up. on the whole 80% to 85% of the country will be above average. just a quick hit. officially winter is 2 1/2 months away.

really we've got some time. temperatures today 50s in the ort east. 60s in the south. 64 in minneapolis. tomorrow temperatures warm still. see temperatures mild, warming into the 70s. so soledad as we head through the next couple of days, temperatures are certainly going to warm up. see by wednesday peaking 65 in new york city. then slight cooldown on thursday. but we're on the up and up, that's for sure. >> that's what we like to hear, alexandra. thank you. big day for mitt romney ahead. he's been a harsh critic of the president's foreign policy. mr. romney is going to be giving a foreign policy speech at the virginia military institute in lexington. national political correspondent jim acosta is traveling with him. hey, jim, good morning. >> reporter: hi, soledad. good morning. that's right. after that debate performance that was widely viewed as a victory for mitt romney, he's going to be going after the president on foreign policy this morning as you mentioned in that speech over at virginia military institute in a few hours from now.

he's going to do a few different things in this speech, soledad. the campaign has released some speech excerpts that we can talk about. but first of all, he is going to be talking about those diplomatic attacks in benghazi, libya. mitt romney's going to be accusing the president of showing weakness on that particular subject. and he's basically going to say that those attacks were essentially the work of the same forces that attacked the united states on september 11th. so he is going to be talking about al qaeda later this morning. the other thing he's going to be pledging to do, he says he's going to help arm the syrian rebels in their fight against that country's leader, president bashar al assad. and the other thing that mitt romney will pledge to do in this speech later this morning is reverse some of those steep defense cuts that are part of that fiscal cliff that is looming at the end of the year. and here is one excerpt from the speech that we'll be hearing from mitt romney later on this morning. it goes after a chief theme of president obama. not only over his presidency but over his first campaign. here it is. it says, quote, i know the president hopes for a safer,

freer and more prosperous middle east allied with the united states. i share this hope. but hope is not a strategy. we cannot support our friends and defeat our enemies in the middle east when our words are not backed up by deeds, when our defense spending is being arbitrarily and deeply cut, when we have no trade agenda to speak of and the perception of our strategy is not one of partnership, but of passivity. soledad, yesterday some of his senior foreign policy advisers had a conference call with reporters. they were sort of laying out some presidencies of past that they think mitt romney might share some of these principles with. and the presidencies that they mentioned were president john f. kennedy, harry truman and even bill clinton. they also threw ronald reagan in there. but it was interesting to note the foreign policy team for mitt romney talking about democratic presidents after that debate performance last week when a lot of pundits on the right and the left were sensing that mitt romney was moving to the middle on domestic policy. we might hear some of that on foreign policy later on today,

soledad. >> interesting point. jim acosta for us this morning, thank you, jim. a recent poll shows president obama has a seven percentage point lead over mitt romney when it comes to who would handle foreign policy better. let's get to richard williamson, former ambassador to the united nations for special political affairs. mitt romney's senior foreign policy adviser. nice to see you, sir. thank you for talking with us. let's focus on some -- actually what jim acosta just said. let's talk about that first. as you heard there was a phone call with some of the foreign policy advisers. and when they listed sort of the foreign policy that maybe mitt romney would be, i guess, fashioning his own after they listed as jim acosta just told me wen kennedy, truman, clinton. is that an indication of moving to the center for somebody like governor romney? >> first, thanks very much for letting me be here. today the governor's going to lay out a clear contrast between his views on foreign policy and national security and those of barack obama. and there's two elements that

really deserve emphasis. one, president obama has tended to be passive. he's led from behind. that's contributed to the turmoil throughout the broader middle east where governor romney believes america must draw upon its exceptionalism and provide leadership. and that america and the world is better off. and second that peace through strength is the criteria that should guide our foreign policy. the peace through strength approach began after world war ii with harry truman, continued with kennedy through reagan. it's the mainstream of the foreign policy, one that governor policy embraces -- >> forgive me for interrupting. >> it's really president obama who's had a different approach. >> okay. when jim acosta reports that foreign policy advisers are saying it's president kennedy, president truman, president clinton, that's how mitt romney would sort of look to that

foreign policy strategy, all testimo democratic presidents, he said that could be read as possibly a move toward the center. is that unfair to say? >> well, it's a move to america's traditional engagement with the world. and a rejection of the weak leadership over the last four years which contributed to the turmoil throughout the broader middle east that we have today. >> okay. let's talk specifics. iran, we know from some of the excerpts that have been sent out already, mitt romney's going to say this as part of his speech. i will put the leaders of iran on notice that the united states and our friends and allies will prevent them from acquiring nuclear weapons capability. i will not hesitate to impose new sanctions on iran. as you well know, sir, there are people who've said the position on iran for both the president and mitt romney is very, very, very similar. >> well, soledad, we would disagree with that. the president came to power with

a hand outreached for engagement. he kept quiet during the green revolution when those seeking freedom and space with civil society in tehran were being beaten, arbitrarily arrested and even killed. and he's continued to reach out. these sanctions he's now imposing now actually were forced on him by democratic senator menendez and republican senator mark kirk. the white house opposed those. the message in tehran has been one of weakness. and not resolve. bismarck, the great leader in europe in the 19th century once said that diplomacy without the use of force is music without instruments. this administration doesn't have credibility. the result is that the president of iran comes to the united states, and he -- he says that israel should be eliminated. he says that we don't have a right to contain his nuclear breakout. then our president doesn't have

the time to meet with our best ally in the region, bibi netanyahu but goes on whoopi goldberg. >> critics have continued to have a field day with president romney when he's spoken about foreign policy. the olympics would be an example. some of the gaffes he made there speaking to wolf blitzer back in march. he said this about russia. russia is without question our number one geopolitical foe. there's a lot of fallout about that. recently talking about the spanish economy. which made spaniards very, very unhappy. are these going to be things that are difficult to overcome when he is also, polls show, as we started the piece, well -- decently behind president obama on foreign policy? >> well, the american people have big, bold choices to make a month from now on election day. on the domestic side they have these record deficits versus moving to a balanced budget. they have president obama's

anemic record on job creation versus governor romney's comprehensive plan. in foreign affairs they have a contrast between passivity and listlessness versus bold leadership. they have a contrast between managing the decline of america, weaker defense versus stronger defense. with the hubbub of what happened immediately after benghazi when the reporters for a few days were focused on what mitt romney said and when about the apology that came out of the egyptian embassy, the u.s. embassy. in fact, his statements were very consistent with what the secretary of state said seven hours later. >> right. but the problem was that they pre -- >> shoot before you aim. but it was he who shot before he aimed because he was talking at the time of spontaneous demonstrations. now reluctantly they've admitted there was a preplanned it sha n

>> wouldn't you argue both were wrong? one to say it was not a preplanned attack, obviously they changed that. you're right. that was completely erroneous. at the same time to put out a statement before -- to criticize a statement that had been put out earlier that was also shooting from the hip? i thought both were deemed to be in error, i would say. both of them were both in error on that, sir. >> well, with all due respect, you're entitled to your opinion. but what governor romney said was that when the u.s. egyptian embassy issued a statement that implied this was all the result of a video and apologized for the video, apologized for american values, they were wrong. and the secretary of state hillary clinton agreed with mitt romney when she made her statement the next morning. so the substance, there's no disagreement on. it was chicago political talking points that a lot of reporters -- >> no. he was criticizing -- he was criticizing an apology that had been put out by the benghazi

district that had said that it came from the white house. that was what happened then. that is not exactly accurate, sir. >> no. >> i am happy to continue this conversation. >> with all due respect -- >> you want to pull the transcripts on it. more than happy to do that. miguel, will you grab those for us? we'll talk about it in our next segment. you bet. that's one of the things we could do now. ambassador richard williamson, we're out of time. we loved talking to you. we'll pull those notes on that. obviously the transcripts and get that to you. other news, headlines? john's got that for us. >> thanks, soledad. 91 people now infected with fungal meningitis. seven people have died. investigators in massachusetts are trying to find the precise source of the outbreak at the facility where potentially tainted steroid injections were made. police found a backpack with items inside that has jessica ridgway's name on this. they were find about six miles from the 10-year-old's home in

westminster, colorado. jessica was last seen walking to school friday morning. hundreds of volunteers joined the search over the weekend. venezuelan president hugo chavez, he is staying in power. he endured the strongest political challenge yet but he did win a third term overnight. supporters marking the victory with fireworks and celebration outside the balcony of the presidential palace. plus there are questions about whether chavez who has rebounded from cancer, we think, there are questions about whether he's healthy enough to complete another six years in office. another football milestone for new orleans stants' quarterback drew brees. he's now thrown a touchtown pass in 48 straight games. he broke that record held for 52 years. he had four td passes in all last night as the saints won their first game of the season. 31-24, they beat the chargers. i understand drew brees will be a guest here on "starting point" wednesday morning, soledad. >> yes, he is. i'm going to be talking to him obviously to congratulate him on

his big victory. >> still ahead this morning on "starting point," forget the vp debate. bill o'reilly and jon stewart took on the debate with a comedic flourish. listen to it a little bit. >> wait, wait, wait, wait. >> and what would you like for christmas, little boy? >> are voters taking cues from these kinds of debates instead of the real debates? a heart stopping crash of 25 cars at talladega. what triggered the accident? we'll talk about that when we come back. back in a moment.

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it was billed as a rumble in a temperature controlled room with a wrestling belt as a prize. when conservative commentator bill o'reilly and jon stewart met on saturday there were lots of jokes to be had. here's a little piece of it. >> i have come here tonight to plea to the mayor of [ bleep ] mountain. talk to your people. >> what would you like for christmas, little boy? >> if you could see any american elected president, who would you choose and why? >> i'd say clint eastwood would have to be my guy. >> why don't we ask him? >> in between the laughs, was there some actual substance in there? howard kurtz is host of cnn's reliable sources.

also washington bureau chief of "the daily beast." walk me through. obviously we showed some of the highlights. parts of it were really, really funny. did they get to sort of the gist and nugget of what you need or hope to get in a debate which is some strong facts? >> having paid my $4.95 to watch this online, soledad, i was surprised the debate was as serious as it was. you showed some of the lighter moments. as the two men were standing rather awkwardly at those podiums they were going at it on issues from redistribution of income to foreign policy. jon stewart wants to show he can be a political prognosticator as well as a funny man and bill o'reilly trying to -- >> let's play a little chunk of what they did say about their health care plans if they were picking. listen. >> you have the private insurance companies. however, they have mandates. they can't throw you off if you're sick.

they have to keep basically -- >> did you say mandates? >> yes. mandates. the government has an oversight capacity. doesn't take it over. because the government's going to screw it up. >> here's what i would do with health care. i would decouple it from work. i would make sure employers are not responsible for the health care. what that would do is free people up to have more mobility in terms of changing jobs, in terms of not worries about illness putting them into bankruptcy, and all those types of situations that we're in now. >> outside of health care, i thought that they made some excellent points. not necessarily related to the actual debate that the two candidates have been having. >> there was some good arguments there. and freed from the constraints of having actually to run for office, they were able to illuminate things in a certain way. i have to say this, soledad. both of them showed a lot more energy than barack obama did last week. >> howie, it's ryan. listen. in that clip, the thing i thought was interesting about this debate is jon stewart, it

seems to me he's sort of grown into a more of -- less of a comedian and more of a pundit role in the last couple years. his thing was always that you can't really hold him responsible for his views because he's skritrictly a comedian. he would laugh about the fact he's on comedy central, this low budget cable channel. there he is talking about what he would do about health care. do you think this guy has sort of -- there's an evolution here going on with stewart? >> absolutely. i've been watching that evolution for years. you'll remember he had the million moderate march or whatever it was called down on the mall here in dc a couple years ago. he wants to be taken seriously. he's a very sharp critic. not just of those of us in the media who sometimes get stung by what he has to say. but of the political scene. and i think as you watch him on "the daily show," yes, he is a very cogent comic. but more and more he is playing to the serious crowd. i think that's one of the reasons he wanted to go toe to toe with o'reilly. >> the one thing, howard, i

noticed, jon for young people is probably the most important news source for them. they watch him every single night. i think the debate on wednesday night, a lot of young folks didn't tune in. going back and forth about tax policy is not that interesting to us. to hear jon stewart and bill o'reilly go at each other especially for young people is quite interesting. speaking in our language. speaking about things we care about. i thought there was a lot of substance in that debate. the one thing that was funny jon stewart said, here we are fighting about the world's problems and mitt romney wants to kill big bird. for our generation we saw that on mitt romney wednesday night, that's not our problem is big bird. >> there's a little bit of a misconception about "the daily show." the people who tune in wouldn't get the jokes if they didn't have some passing familiarity with the headlines. but, of course, a lot of people do rely on jon stewart and stephen colbert and "saturday night live" for that matter which we saw lampooning the president over the weekend for their political fix. we in the beltway bubble tend to forget not everybody's watching

all the political shows. this is a way of breaking through the static and serving up some actual political substance by coating it with the patent of comedy. >> howard kurtz this morning. thanks for being with us. been a strong year for the stock market. is the rally over? christine romans will break down what's going on with stocks. exclusive new cnn money survey is straight ahead. ♪ ♪ ♪ we're lucky, it's not every day you find a companion

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is right now at the 1440 level. any further gains expected to be held back by uncertainty surrounding the presidential election, the fiscal cliff and the debt crisis in europe. although a couple of my sources this morning are saying once you get over the presidential election and because the fed is still pumping so much money into the system, soledad, they think stocks will still go higher. >> interesting to see. still ahead this morning on "starting point," she is one of fortune's most powerful women. what sesame workship sherry westen says about having it all. and mitt romney's plan to cut funding to pbs. plus, look at this. that's at talladega. we'll tell you what happened, up next. tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 let's talk about low-cost investing.

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welcome back. you're watching "starting point." we start with john berman, update on the day's top stories. >> mitt romney spells out foreign policy positions again in a speech this morning at 11:20 at the virginia military institute. he'll compa he says he'll work to support allies to confront hostile governments such as iran. family, friends and colleagues in arizona say good-bye today to u.s. border patrol agent nicolas ivy at a public funeral service this morning. during visitation yesterday loved ones walked past his black and tan boots, straw hat, his casket draped with an american flag. federal investigators say they believe ivy was killed in a case of friendly fire. you may recall the story of jason russell. he's the creator of the movie kony 2012 which highlights the brutality of joseph kony.

back in march he had a public breakdown in the streets of san diego running into streets with no clothes on. he tells oprah winfrey in an exclusive interview that aired last night on her program "oprah's next chapter" he was hospitalized suffering from a condition called reactive psychosis. >> you don't go through something this traumatic, dramatic, public and not learn a lot from it. and not grow closer to your wife. and to your family. and to the people who are in your tribe. >> the good news is jason russell says he feels like he's on top of the world these days which is nice to hear. a wild finish. a pile-up involving 25 cars during sunday's nascar race at talladega. driver tony stewart tried to make a move on the race's final lap. didn't work at all. set off a massive chain reaction wreck. amazingly every driver, na thankfully, was able to walk away from this.

when t some of the top female leaders in business and government and acedamia and the arts recently met. >> penny sellers was telling me the other day at the current rates it would take 70 years for the number of women on corporate boards in the united states to match the number of men for sort of, you know, equality on boards. which was, i don't know -- >> surprising. >> really surprising and depressing as well. do you think that that's -- that that's -- when we're having this conversation, you and i, in 65 years? >> this is somewhat controversial. especially when you're in a conference like this when you see so many impressive women. women ceos. heads of fortune 500 company major divisions. leaders in the nonprofit area as well. it's a wonderful example of how far women have come. but i think there is also that element of choice where women are struggling to balance home

and work. and i think often the reason there's not more of those women ceos is not because they aren't able. not because they haven't been offered. but because at certain times they've decided they have to be in a position that allows more flexibility and choice. >> can you have it all. >> i relate to some of that. i served in the white house. i was one of the highest ranking women ithe bush 41 white house quite a ways back. but i did that when i didn't have children. i can't imagine at this stage in my life with a 10-year-old and a 17-year-old holding that same job. i think success for an individual woman is being able to create the kind of environment where she is content. that she believes she's dedicating the time she needs if she has children to those children and to her career. but i do think there is -- there is an importance in having larger numbers at the top because, let's be honest. women leaders are often different. to have a mix of both male and

female at the top of a corporation i think is a really important mix. >> mitt romney has said that he plans to propose eliminating funding for pbs. >> i'm going to stop the subsidy to pbs. i'm going to stop other things. i like pbs. i like big bird. >> the national endowment of the arts, should he be elected president of the united states. of course pbs is where sesame street airs for people who watch it domestically. what do you think of the proposal? >> sesame street is a nonprofit organization and also a nonpartisan organization. i don't want to be critical of any camp. the perception that gives is a little bit misleading. because while we we have been on pbs for some 43 years, and we're partners and support i have of it, so we would always be supportive of broadcasting money, interestingly sesame workship receiving very little money from pbs ♪ with my really long legs and big orange feet ♪ >> we are able to raise our

funding through -- through corporate underwriting and sponsorship. quite frankly, you know, you can debate whether or not there should be funding in public broadcasting. when they say we're going to kill big bird, that actually is misleading. because sesame street will be here. >> big bird lives no matter what. >> big bird lives on. ♪ my initials are b.b >> rapping big bird. sherrie spwestin, we did that interview before the debate. there is something like 176 pbs stations. some of them get 50% of their financing, their money, from federal funding. they would go under which means that sesame street wouldn't be carried in those communities, you know, if the station was off the air all together.

we should mention we're going to have some of those highlights from that conference, the fortune's most powerful women conference all during this week. ahead on "starting point" this morning, day off from school, parades and retail sales are the usual ways to celebrate columbus day. this is the view outside of my window. it's a way to give people a chance to get to know christopher columbus close and personal. as weird as that might sound, it's true. we'll explain up next. and the moments that tell the full story about the presidential debates. thephotographer who took some of the pictures explains the images. ti-vitamin designed for men's health concerns as we age. it has more of 7 antioxidants to support cell health. one a day men's 50+. a short word that's a tall order. up your game. up the ante. and if you stumble, you get back up.

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welcome back, everybody. you're watching starting point. it is columbus day, of course. the large christopher columbus statue which is right outside of our studios here in new york city, this is kind of the view outside my window, usually looks like a statue of christopher columbus. not this scaffolding kind of mess. this is an art insulatitallatio. the artist built the statue, a home, a living room. so people could explore. >> reporter: christopher columbus has stood tall in new york's columbus circle since 1892. one big problem, though. >> i've been living in this city since 1966. columbus circle has always been there. you don't look up. you can't see it. >> faster than you can say nina, pinta and santa maria. to discover christopher

columbus's statue here you could walk up six flights of steps. to me more arduous than a boat ride. columbus may have discovered the new world. now new yorkers and tourists enter another new world to rediscover columbus. standing on a coffee table in living room americana. couch, cable tv. >> columbus stayed exactly where he is. this all took shape around him. >> reporter: only columbus has seen these views before of major new york avenues. >> i like to think of it christopher columbus finally getting a piece of the american dream. his own home. front row. new york city. >> reporter: japanese artist tatsu nishi who specializes in transforming public spaces brought columbus out of the cold. >> i am so happy to have my work in new york city. >> reporter: some people are not happy an italian icon is hidden

away in a living room. >> if they wanted to exalt him they wouldn't have encased him. >> reporter: i walked up more steps at italy's new york consulate to discuss what was done to an italian sea captain by a japanese artist in manhattan sfwl art manhattan. >> art is a language which is supposed to unify people in different cultures. >> reporter: i ordered chinese takeout. will the delivery man be able to come up here to the living room so i can watch some tv along with chris? you can explore this exhibit until november 18th. then the ancient mariner, freed from new york pigeons, gets major cleaning and repairs. >> that looks so cool. i would love to go see that. literally the view. now it's covered in scaffolding. so i no longer see christopher columbus. that's got to be awesome. >> i want to check it out. there's a growing movement to change the name of columbus day to exploration day. i don't know why. we learned, of course, in school how christopher columbus

discovered america which was really the bahamas by sailing the ocean blue in 1492. those who want the holiday renamed say that his treatment of native americans was horrific and that they shouldn't be celebrating christopher columbus. they should just talk about exploration. i don't know that that's going to catch on. >> i went to uc berkeley. uc berkeley you might not be shocked to learn it was known as native american day. some locations have changed already. >> maybe it would change. >> the idea behind exploration day is what? you celebrate the virtues of columbus? >> also talking about space exploration? >> just exploration generally. >> how about we just have our kids go to school? why are they off? >> my kids are in school. i'm half italian. the italians raised me. i wanted my kids to have off today. >> really? i think they don't go to school enough. >> my kids are in school. >> my don't go to school. i want them to be in school. today they're off. they're off tomorrow. which is not columbus day. >> two days for columbus day.

>> in service day. still ahead this morning on "starting point," it is the smallest gesture but it could explain what's going on with the candidates. our next guest shot this picture at the presidential debate. says it reveals some of the striking differences you may not have realized in that debate. back in a moment with that.

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welcome back to "starting point." jerry sandusky is scheduled to be sentenced tomorrow. the former assistant football coach at penn state is expected to spend the rest of his life in prison. in june he was convicted of multiple counts of sexually abusing boys over a span of 15 years.

the house intelligence committee reports two of the world's biggest telecom companies could pose a threat to national security because of their ties to the chinese government. the two firms have tried to expand operations in the west. they dispute the findings from congress. a record shattering men's run at the chicago marathon by the first ethiopian winner. the 25-year-old slashed the course record by about a minute. also broke kenya's streak of nine consecutive wins. the presidential campaign coverage seems to rely, of course, on live tv events. quick sound bites. but more often the campaign moments that go down in history end up being captured by still photographs. getty images photographer chip joins us this morning. took some pictures at the debate. first start by describing the tone in the hall. what did it feel like before you even started snapping pictures? >> before the debate begins, the room starts to fill with people from everywhere and all over the

community. they're all very excited. moving around, snapping pictures of the first lady's chair where she's going to be sitting. snapping pictures of anything and everything in the room. the crowd settles. jim lehrer came out and told everyone to be absolutely silent. and then the candidates come out. and the anticipation is palpable. >> as you know, president obama looked distracted, discouraged, to name a bunch of adjectives that are negative for him. mitt romney looked very confident and aggressive in sort of, i think, a strong way. how did they feel to you as a photographer as you were taking pictures? >> they felt very much the way that everyone saw them. the president looked down a lot when he was listening to governor romney. and then governor romney's gestures, as you can see from the photographs, were very exuberant and very confident. people talk about owning a stage or owning a location. and when you saw the images side

by side of the two -- of the president and governor romney, it was apparent who -- who was feeling more confident that evening. >> we've got another photo of the obamas as well. i think it's -- you see right after the debate president obama and mrs. obama standing off to the side. there it is. tell me a little bit about this picture. >> sure. after the debate is over, the -- the first lady and mrs. romney came on to stage and governor romney's family came on and everyone greeted each other and visited and -- and patted each other on the back, shook hands. and then afterward, governor romney returned to the podium to collect his notes. and the president looked off stage for kind of guidance as to where to exit. so that moment happened very quickly. it happened after the debate was over. i'm not sure if it was live on television. and i thought that it -- it kind of spoke to the entire debate. the governor seemed to return back to the podium as if he was trying to get back to where he was having a great time. >> and the president is looking

for the exit. >> exit stage left. >> the met taphors run rampant. there's a shot we've been showing of president obama sort of pats governor romn eting gov the back. tell me about that. >> sure. the president is an extremely friendly person. he's a very -- he's a touching person. when he campaigns, he shakes hands. he fist bumps. he gives hugs to his supporters. he's very comfortable with who he is and the way that he interacts with other people. so this is after they had finished the debate and they had shaken hands and then the president was moving around to greet the first lady as she came up on stage. he was still touching the governor. that's just -- that's his way. it's how he interacts with people. >> how did romney react to that? he's not a very physical guy. >> he's not a very physical guy. i can say with some confidence after covering the campaign and covering governor romney since last summer starting with the

iowa state fair, he's not a hugging person. the way that the president is. but he was still fine. he shook hands. he came in close to the president. they had words before and after. and they seemed comfortable with each other. >> i was glad he got rid of the mom jeans and he's actually traded that name for some of these anecdotes. >> the suits are good. >> the mood in the room at the end, what was different than the beginning? >> with the -- when the candidates come out, as you see on television, it's very quick. they come out. they shake hands. and they say a few words. for us as photographers, it's very exciting. because it's the only time that we see them together between the beginning of this race and the end. so we're trying to read as much as we can in to it. afterward the mood was -- it was clear that governor romney and his family were exuberant. >> when you're shooting an event like this, are you actually watching and listening to the debate to understand sort of how the commentary is going to describe this so you can sort of

capture a photo that illustrates that? or are you just sitting there shooting the whole time and not really paying attention to the dynamics? >> that's the journalist in photo journalist. our job is to make an image that speaks to what's happening in the room. normally we have a lot of freedom at rallies and other events as political photographers to move around, to find the angle, to find a picture that's story telling. but with the debate, we're glued to one spot and we have to do what we can to glean meaning from that one position. so we have to begin to look for a gesture. we have to begin to look for an expression. we have to be very careful to make sure to capture what we can and make sure it adheres to what's happening in the story. >> did you detect the dominant story of obama not really showing up and romney dominating? >> there was some people in the room who said they didn't feel as bad as it read on television. is that how it felt to you? >> no, no. >> that's the photo you were looking for. >> i wasn't looking for it as

much as i was seeing it. it was there. i didn't have to go out of my way in order to illustrate what was happening in the room. but i had to make sure to do it carefully. >> the pictures are beautiful. chip, nice to have you with us. >> thank you very much. >> getty images photographer who took pictures of the presidential debate. thanks. end point's up next. back in a moment. i have a cold... i took dayquil,

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end point, michael, you want to start with us? >> i just got back from florida yesterday. registering voters for the past five days. russell and i were down there campaigning for the president. tomorrow is the deadline in 15 states across this country to register to vote. if you haven't registered yet, please, go out there and register. let's vote. >> kellyanne, you're a pollster. what do you think the post debate polls are going to show. >> they're going to show a true bump for romney. particularly among the undecided voters. he gave reason a people to vote for him and the president gave people an excuse to vote against him. that's a double whammy in 90